Boston Mayor Michelle Wu Withdraws as HLS Class Day Speaker After Union Urges Her Not to Cross Picket Line

Source: The Crimson

By Uy B. Pham and Claire L. Simon, Crimson Staff Writers
9 hours ago
Updated May 26, 2026, at 11:51 p.m.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu ’07 has withdrawn as the Class Day speaker for Harvard Law School after the Harvard Graduate Student Union-United Auto Workers asked her not to cross its picket line, according to an email sent to graduating law students on Tuesday evening.

Wu’s office said the mayor was “deeply disappointed” not to attend and had spent the past week attempting to reach a compromise with the union that would have allowed her to participate.

“The Mayor is a strong ally of the labor movement and believes in respecting picket lines, but wishes that the union had taken one of the many alternatives available,” a spokesperson for Wu wrote in a statement.

Wu’s team and the HLS Class Marshals had proposed alternatives to the union over the course of several days, including acknowledging the strike from the podium during her remarks or participating virtually, according to a person familiar with the matter. The efforts were unsuccessful.



Read more: https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2026/5/27/wu-drops-out-hls-class-day/